Blog about writing and grammar

When to use words or numerals for numbers In business writing, a generally accepted rule is to spell out numbers from one to nine and use numerals for 10 and above. Some organisations change at 11 rather than 10. Numerals are usually used in scientific and technical writing, and increasingly I am seeing some organisations […]

Avoid comma errors Comma splices and run-on sentences are common problems in business writing. So what are they? They are both comma errors. Comma splice A comma splice occurs when you use a comma to join two independent clauses (also known as main clauses). An independent clause expresses a complete thought and can stand alone. […]

Seven tips to kick-start your writing ‘Simple English is no one’s mother tongue. It has to be worked for.’ Jacques Barzun, French-American historian From time to time, we need to stand back and re-assess our writing skills to make sure our writing is clear, concise and engaging. 1. Just write It’s a truism that the more […]

Use while, which, however, this, it is, there is with caution Problems arise when writers overuse or misuse while, which, however, this, it is and there is. These words per se are not a problem – it’s just how they are used or overused. If you’re a person who overuses any of these words, I suggest you […]

Age terms and hyphens Question: How do you use hyphens with ages, for example, two year old child? Answer: Compound adjectives (two or more words that both modify the following noun) are hyphenated in age terms. a two-year-old child two-year-old (compound adjective) child (noun) However, if the age term is not modifying a noun, you don’t need […]

The modern trend is for more minimal capitalisation One of my pet hates is the overuse and inconsistent use of initial capitals. I think many people were taught that all important words deserved to be capitalised and old habits die hard. The modern trend is for more minimal capitalisation. There are some specific rules, but […]

No universal style for writing dates The style you use varies depending on where you live In Australian, New Zealand and British business writing, the order of dates is day of the week (optional), day, month, year (dd/mm/yyyy). There is no need for any punctuation, but some writers put a comma after the day of […]

Here’s the truth: many people do not finish online courses When I first started writing online courses, I was astonished that many people didn’t finish them. Then I realised, I often didn’t finish online courses myself. I now know that low completion rates is a fact and a common problem with online courses. It’s not […]

Understanding grammar improves your writing I can remember when I first started reading grammar books that the language was daunting (some of it still is!). So here’s a few terms in case you need to refresh your memory. Parts of speech Parts of speech are sometimes called word classes. Adjectives: describing words. hot, cold, beautiful Adverbs: tell […]

From text-heavy lessons to videos, videos and more videos in online learning Online learning, also called e-learning, has changed a lot over the last 10–15 years for users, organisations and course creators. For one thing the industry has grown and is continuing to grow – it is projected to grow from $165.21 billion in 2015 […]

Use nominalisations with caution Last month I wrote about verbing (turning nouns into verbs) and an e-newsletter reader pointed out that we also turn verbs and adjectives into nouns. The process of turning verbs and adjectives into nouns is known as nominalisation (nominalization if you use American spelling!). It’s also sometimes called ‘nouning’. There are […]